jolly80

Hi

I'm new to commuting and wondering what the benefits/disadvantages of Clipless pedals are?

I'm quite fit and do around a 14 mile round trip in London down the Old Kent Road each day. I currently have a Canondale Bad Boy fatty. Can any one recommend any pedals and what the advantages are of expensive compared to cheap clipless pedals.

Thanks in advance.

alan s 

Try the search function or scroll down a few pages. This comes up probably once a week.

Doohickie

I use platform pedals with toe clips (no straps). Some level of retention but you don't have to consciously remember to unclip.

Seattle Forrest

NCbiker

Let me Google that for you:

https://bit.ly/GTfjCT

Steely Dan

according to the many know it all geniuses of this forum, clipless pedals will either:


A. automatically transform you into the next tour de france champion.

or

B. do absolutely nothing at all, and you're monumentally stupid if you use them.

CommuterRun

Try different things and see what you like. What you like is all that matters.

I went from toe clips, to clipless, to clipless on one bike, toe clips on another, platforms on a third. Then I tried PowerGrips. Now all my bikes have PowerGrips.

david58

All to your preference. I have been using them for a while, and honestly don't feel comfortable riding any other way now. My preference is clipless. But no reason yours has to be unless it is.

fietsbob

Without clipless pedals, I can wear waterproof boots..

pedal this winter .. Ergon .. big reflectors !

SouthFLpix

The two main advantages that I've noticed with clipless pedals is that obviously they will not slip off in rainy weather or right after walking over wet lawn, and number 2, they make it slightly easier to climb because your feet are 'welded' to the pedals so there is less wasted motion.

Downsides are that you will probably hit the deck while adjusting to them (everyone does), and in 'stop and go' city traffic it is harder to put a foot down than with platform pedals. Another downside is that going clipless is a fairly expensive route compared to buying a set of platform pedals.

I made the move to clipless a few years ago, and honestly my opinion is that for commuting they should be considered more of a luxury thing. Not a lot of 'bang for the buck' there, honestly. If you are racing or riding competitively, in that case you will be on the road for hours at a time and any small gain in efficiency is going to be worthwhile, but for commuting distances, not so much.

CACycling

Shimano M520s (SPD) work well for commuting, are reasonably priced and easy to get used to. There are many types of shoes that work with SPD so you can go MTB style (easier to walk in) or road style (tend to be a bit stiffer and lighter but not as easy to walk).

Confederate

I'm riding A520s because I often can't (or don't want to) wear bike shoes. I like having clipless pedals on very long rides, as it makes me a more efficient rider. Around town, I like being able to wear normal shoes.

Often, the difference between very expensive and "cheap" clipless pedals is weight. Look at the Crank Brothers line-up and you will see 2, 3, sometimes 5 different pedals that are all essentially the same, but go up in cost and down in weight. Unless you are racing competitively, you can get by with clipless pedals that weigh a bit more. But still expect to spend $50-100. It's difficult to find anything under that price range that is worth owning.

hopperja

For road riding/commuting, I prefer SPD clipless pedals. For MTB I prefer Crank Bros. egg-beaters. I hate toe clips. Platform pedals are OK, but you give up the pull stroke if you want/need it.

There are two major muscle groups in your thigh: quadriceps and hamstring. When pushing on the pedals, one typically mostly engages the quadriceps. Equally powerful, however, are the hamstrings. If you have platform pedals, you cannot use your hamstring muscles. Using your hamstrings would give your quadriceps a break and you'd be able to pedal faster/farther/longer. I personally prefer this option.

The downside to clips are: 1- there's a learning curve 2- you have to have clipless specific shoes, and 3- (from my experience, though I haven't ever seen others write about it), the upward pull by the hamstrings tends to put additional weight on the saddle. This can cause backside-saddle interaction issues (ie, greater chance for saddle sore, numbness, soreness, etc, unless you have a properly fitting/adjusted saddle).

a1penguin

^^^ +1 to what hopperja says.

I'm happy with my 520 pedals. They came with my road bike so I had to learn how to use them. I had never used STI/brifters before so learning how to shift and use clipless pedals was a bit of a challenge. I have NO regrets and no plans to change to road pedals. 520s are cheap and you can walk around in shoes. You can get inexpensive canvas-like shoes or spend mucho $$$ getting light carbony shoes. If you have multiple bikes, replacing pedals on all bikes can cost an arm and a leg.

I did a test ride on a couple of bikes last weekend and I didn't bring my pedals. I realized how much I like my clipless pedals. I went over a bump in the road and my foot came off the pedal. Weirded me out.

I you do lots of stopping and starting, you might find toe clips to be an acceptable compromise. I'm fine commuting with clipless pedals.

YMMV

rex_kramer

Underground

I run three different options. I have road pedals on the 1.5, SPD's on the HiFi, and platforms on the Hardrock. My fixie had powergrips before I sold it (still kept the pedals). I am debating on using powergrips or plain platforms on the Transport. I'll decide after riding it some when it comes in.

I like a commuter to be flexible enough to wear normal shoes. Typically I run PowerGrips or platforms on it. As for the road and MTB, I like maximum power transfer, so I go with clipless on those.

At least with the SPD's, you can wear a good touring shoe and be able to walk normally without a bunch of "clicking", all while still maintaining a more normal shoe look.

david58

Remarkably peaceful and short thread so far. Your popcorn may go stale....

megalowmatt

Like the use of helmets, this can be a polarizing subject here at bike forums.

The bottom line is take it all in and figure out what works for YOU.

I have three primary bikes - mountain, road & commuting. On my road & commuting I use SPD pedals and they share the same pair of shoes. M520 on my road bike and PD a530 dual sided pedals on my commuter.

Works for me.

b_young

I use them on my road bike and commuter. The main reason is with platforms I don't hold my foot straight and my knee ends up hurting. With clipless it locks my foot in position and eliminates the knee problems. Other than that, some days I still swap over to platforms just so I don't have to have an extra pair of shoes.

mrosenlof

MKS Touring pedals with no retention, or the MKS Lambda (Rivendell Grip King). I wear running shoes mostly (that have retired from running duty) (I also run) or Tevas. I'm happy. A lot of people love clipless retention also. Lots of things work fine.

bluefoxicy

Exact opposite experience here. I left my bike shoes at work once for a one mile ride up stop and go traffic... uh, worst idea ever. Then we got sent home, I didn't get my shoes, and the ride home was horrible, absolutely. The ride back was horrible. Very, very slow without the clipless pedals because I keep falling off... pedaling hard, hit a bump, lose control of the pedals, fall off.

I won't go over 10mph on platforms. In stop-and-go traffic it's hard to 'go' when you're not clipped in; the sudden connection gives all you need to throw down every watt of power you can find without worry.

bluefoxicy

I've had multiple people argue that pulling up "doesn't exist" and tests show that what actually happens is you unload the down-thrust pedal.

You'll hear this argument a lot. Magically, less load on one pedal, but your legs aren't doing any lifting. It doesn't work that way; energy comes from somewhere. Pedal power meters aren't made to measure lifting force; power meters belong in the rear wheel.

SouthFLpix

Yes, I agree with this. You can't use 'upstroke' because all you are doing is negating some of the down stroke power in the other leg. You can improve efficiency so that the 'upstroke' leg gets 'out of the way' of the one producing the down stroke, which is the goal. No one has a powerful enough hamstring to 'pull' harder than the opposite leg is 'pushing', which is a force also aided by gravity. In fact, gravity and the weight of the rider helping the down stroke is one of the reasons bicycles are so energy efficient.

Here's a quick article on the subject: https://www.roadcycling.com/training/...echnique.shtml

spare_wheel

This.

My knee pain disappeared when I switched to clipless.

AdamDZ

I wouldn't bother with clipless for commuting, in particular if it's urban riding in dense traffic with frequent stopping.